Itinerary

For those of you who are interested in our timeline for the trip to Germany, I'm including our travel itinery. I may have extended the trip longer than necessary, but I wanted to allow plenty of time for Eddie to recover before flying home. I can't afford for him to be any more uncomfortable than normal and make the long journey home. Eddie's treatments are scheduled for Oct 19th, to extract bone marrow (and stem cells) from his hip. Then October 21st to do the lumbar injection of the harvested stem cells. After the injection, the clinic recommends resting for 48 hrs before traveling home. That would make the earliest travel date on the 23rd-24th. We are staying on until midday of the 26th. If he feels fine (and he's already certain that he will...hmmm) we could do some sightseeing on the last day or two. Nine days in Germany is going to make for a very long stay, but the airfare is the most expensive part of the trip... not counting the treatment itself (about 7,500 Euros...cash requried) so if we get to enjoy the area for a couple of days that will be a bonus, right?

Travel Itinery:

Tulsa to O'Hare
Oct 16th 11:35 - 1:20pm
AA flight 366

Staying overnight at Sheraton Gateway Suites Hotel (near the airport). They have a wheelchair accessible shuttle to pick us up at the airport, and return us the next day.

O'Hare to Frankfurt
Oct 16th 10pm, arriving 1:30pm on Oct17th because of the time difference.
Lufthansa flight LH433
Jetlag here we come!!

Frankfurt to Cologne, via rail
Oct 17th 4:09pm - 5:05pm
Rail LH6820
That's 12 hrs 5min according to the airlines... I didn't calculate it myself. It doesn't, of course, include arriving early, check-in, customs, etc.


Returning:

Cologne to Munich
Oct 26th 1:05pm - 2:10pm
Lufthansa flight LH1271

Munich to O'Hare
Oct 26th 4:25pm - 7:25pm

We will stay overnight again in Chicago, though I haven't booked a room yet for our return to the States. The Sheraton is pretty pricey, so we'll decide, after our initial stay at the Sheraton, before we leave Chi, where to stay when returning.

O'Hare to Tulsa
Oct 27th arriving at 10:50am
AA Flight 583
That's 12hrs, 20 mins according to the airlines.

I've checked into travel insurance (through AAA Access) that will cover missed connections, etc. and also medical care if either of us gets sick or injured... since most medical insurance plans in the states are not applicable in foreign countries. The coverage, of course, does not include pre-existing conditions (his). I was more concerned about myself getting ill/injured and not being able to get him back home. So this coverage (at $565) we think is well worth the peace of mind it offers.